opening is just the start
by shimmeryshine
Summary: No pressure, Chuck thinks to himself as they stand toe to toe in front of the open window. Someone goes first, but again, neither can tell who. Post-ep for 2.21.


With hands still loosely linked, Chuck and Sarah slide their way into the back seat of Awesome's SUV and settle in for the short drive to the restaurant hosting his sister's rehearsal dinner. Sarah's got this grin on her face and sultry look in her eyes that makes Chuck flush with the possibilities of what _this is real_ exactly means for them at this point.

Casey is following in his Crown Vic behind them, and Ellie and Devon are chatting away in the front seat leaving them blissfully ignored. Sarah's still staring in his direction and Chuck can't help himself when he leans over to whisper wickedly in her ear. "You look hot in that dress," he breathes with barely a centimeter between his lips and her skin. His right hand settles just under the hem of her azure dress, on her thigh, and he hears her breath catch.

Neither of them are used to being particularly overt in times like these.

Sarah closes her eyes briefly, and then turns her face into him. "Chuck?" she says as she looks him square in the eyes.

"Hm?"

She mimics his previous position, breathing into his ear in the sweetest voice she can muster, "_I'm not wearing any underwear._"

Chuck chokes on his own saliva as he feels Sarah's grin erupt across the skin of his cheek. She pulls her head back to see the way his pupils are completely _blown_, and wiggles herself forward on the seat a little so his hand slides dangerously higher up under her dress. "You'd better slow it down before you can't get out of the car without embarrassing yourself, _Chuck_."

He squints his eyes in her direction, notes the flush spread across the entire top half of her body, and withdraws his hand as slowly as humanly possible. "You are evil, Sarah Walker."

"Oh, you love it," she coos through a smug grin. "And also, you started it."

Neither of them can believe this is actually happening. _Don't freak out._

/

The time spent at the restaurant is punctuated by hands here, looks there, and _oh god why do we have to be around all these people right now._

Chuck keeps his hand on her shoulder as he makes a toast to his sister's future. His index finger loops underneath the strap of her dress and she almost doesn't remember to clap when he stops speaking.

He sits back down though, and removes his hand by way of trailing it down her entire arm. Sarah places a steadying hand on Chuck's knee as it bounces out of control under the dinner table. He is a ball of energy, and her touch does little to calm his racing pulse. How did they even survive these past two years like this? They feel like they've been released but they aren't allowed to be free just yet.

/

Sarah The Agent comes out to play about three quarters of the way through the night. Dinner has been over for a while and everyone is pleasantly buzzed when she spins some story about having an early shift at the Orange Orange, _and I should really get home._

Casey has been enjoying himself immensely at the wished for open bar, so Chuck heads over in his direction to secure the get away car. "Heeeey buddy!" Chuck starts, slapping Casey on the back.

"What do you want, Bartowski?" he gruffs out, sipping on something amber.

"Hey, uh, I need to take Sarah home because she has...well I just...and we drove with Ellie and --" Casey holds up a hand to stop Chuck's rambling. "Can we borrow your car?"

Casey looks like Chuck has just asked for his _first born_ instead of his vehicle, and takes a huge swig of whatever he is drinking.

"I swear I won't even drive it! I'll let Sarah drive! She has excellent reflexes and I think, kind of a lot of money? I mean she drives a Porche -"

"BARTOWSKI. Stop rambling like a fourteen year old girl. I'll let you take the car just to get you away from me."

Chuck is absolutely shocked that Casey has agreed and starts to squeak out a reply when Casey presses his keys into his palm. "But if you and Walker have sex in the Vic? I will shoot you, and I won't start with your head. Got me?"

"Yes! Yes, okay. Promise. No sex, got it." Chuck spins around to go find Sarah so quickly that he doesn't see the smirk play across John Casey's features. _So predictable_ he thinks to himself.

/

Sarah hip checks him on the way to the car, and he tries not to die of elation as he tosses the keys in her direction. He can't help but think that the _real_ Sarah might be even more amazing then he ever dared dream up.

/

They roll to a stop at a red light not far from Chuck's apartment. It's a busy intersection with a gas station, drug store, and fast food place on each corner and is lit up like a Christmas tree. A neon red sign is throwing light across Sarah's face, and it's this he notices as she turns to him and points her finger out the window. "Do we need to make any pit stops before we get to your house?" she asks, smirking.

Chuck drags his eyes from the light playing against the column of her neck and gives her a confused look. "Pit stops?"

She points her finger again, to the drugstore on the corner to their right. The impetus to their previous encounter in the hotel room springs to the forefront of his mind and he looks at her with wide eyes.

"Too soon?" she jokes as she hits the gas and he lurches comically forward and then back into his seat.

/

The way Chuck sees it, this night has been inevitable since pretty much the very beginning. He's pretty sure Sarah would never admit to having had feelings for him all the way back then, but he's pretty sure that she is almost as good at lying to herself as she is at lying to other people.

Almost.

In any case, they end up walking hand in hand through the courtyard, stopping only when Sarah spins around to face him as she walks backward toward his apartment door. She is smiling so wide that he feels like her entire face might actually light up, and he cannot resist the impulse to pull her back in his direction. She lets him, of course, and bumps lightly against his still moving chest, canceling out his forward momentum. They stand there still like that for a moment, skin buzzing with the proximity of their bodies. Chuck caves first, and slides his free hand up the column of her neck and into her impossibly soft hair. Her head tilts into the motion, looking him straight in the eyes. They're kissing a second later, and it's impossible for either to tell who launched first, but neither one wants to be the first one to pull back.

Sarah makes an impossibly soft sound in the back of her throat that finally makes Chuck retreat an inch for air, but he won't let her go. She's standing on her tip toes, hands in his hair and around his neck, forehead touching his with his arms cradling her completely. _"Finally"_ she breathes.

His face breaks out into an all out grin, then, and he nudges her forward toward the door. Chuck is invading her personal space so completely that she notices immediately when he trips over himself slightly just before they make it all the way to the apartment. "Oh crap," he says to himself quickly.

"Chuck?"

"I didn't bring a key with me! Since we drove with Ellie, I didn't grab my keys."

Sarah rolls her eyes at him and motions toward his cracked open window with her head. "Morgan door?"

"First a dirty motel, now climbing in through a window. Way to stay classy Bartowski," he says mostly to himself, but she laughs anyway.

They've climbed through this window in the middle of the night dozens of times after missions, but it's somehow more awkward when they know they aren't going to be faking anything that happens for the rest of the night.

_No pressure_ Chuck thinks to himself as they stand toe to toe in front of the open window.

Someone goes first, but again, neither can tell who.

/

The first thing Chuck notices when his bleary eyes crack open is that his head is in a weird place. Usually when he wakes up, he is either staring at his Tron poster, or his alarm clock, but on this very sunny morning, his head is hanging off the edge of the bed and he is face to face with his _television_. Disoriented, Chuck tries to slide his arm along the sheets to push his body up so he can figure out why he is completely backward on his bed, but stops when his fingers brush warm, naked skin. His head shoots up immediately to find a mess of golden blonde hair burrowed into his side. Chuck's eyes go wide as the previous night returns to him in vivid detail, and he cannot stop the way his head lulls back as he lets out a contented sigh. _Oh my god, that actually happened_ runs through his head on repeat as he becomes aware of every single place Sarah's body is touching his.

Her head is resting somewhere between his shoulder and his neck, and she's got a long, smooth leg positioned right in between his. He lets his head hang back for a few more moments, not wanting to disturb their position, but his muscles are aching after sleeping that way for several hours, and he has to shift them so the top half of his body is laying comfortably near hers. Sarah makes an adorable groaning sound as she burrows her head further into his warm, morning skin, not wanting to wake up.

Sarah never was a morning person.

After a few minutes of resistance, Sarah finally lifts her head to find Chuck staring at her head with an airy expression on his face. "Morning," he says with a gravelly voice that shivers down her entire body.

She replies with a sunny smile and a light hum, squeezing her arm around his chest for a moment before trying to roll over. Unfortunately, neither of the two realize how close they are to the edge of the bed when Sarah suddenly rolls too far, taking the blankets and Chuck with her as she crashes to the floor. Chuck lands completely on top of her, and they stare wide eyed at each other until Chuck breaks the momentary shock of falling. "Do they teach you those moves in the academy?" he asks flippantly, and then they both bust out into a fit of hysterical laughter because they just _rolled off the side of the bed._

Still laughing, Sarah shoves his shoulder and Chuck flips over to let her perch astride him. She surveys their surroundings with a lightly confused expression. "How the hell did we get all the way to the bottom of your bed anyway?" she asks, panting and flushed.

"What, you don't remember?" Chuck makes a mock hurt face.

Sarah gets a predatory gleam in her eye and leans herself down to whisper directly into Chuck's ear, fully realizing the power she has over him in this position. "Why don't you help jog my memory, _Chuck_?" The way her voice always sticks on the last bit of his name makes him shiver under her. She pulls on his earlobe with her teeth as she slides herself from his stomach down, down, and Chuck forgets how to breathe.

_Don't freak out._


End file.
